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1 Enoch

About this book
Chapter 54

1 And I looked and turned to another part of the earth, and saw there a deep valley with burning fire. 2 They brought the kings and the mighty, and began to throw them into this deep valley.⁠ 3 There, my eyes saw how they made these instruments, iron chains of immense weight. 4 I asked the angel of peace who was with me, 'For whom are these chains being prepared?'⁠ 5 He said to me, 'These are being prepared for the armies of Azâzêl, so they may take them and throw them into the abyss of complete condemnation,⁠ and they shall cover their jaws with rough stones as the Lord of Spirits commanded.' 6 Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Phanuel will seize them on that great day, and throw them into the burning furnace, that the Lord of Spirits may avenge their wickedness in submitting to Satan and leading astray those who dwell on the earth.'⁠ 7 'In those days, punishment will come from the Lord of Spirits, and he will open all the chambers of waters above the heavens, and the fountains beneath the earth. 8 And all the waters will merge: the water above the heavens is masculine, and the water beneath the earth is feminine.⁠ 9 They will destroy all who live on the earth and those who live at the ends of the heaven. 10 And when they acknowledge their wrongdoing that they committed on the earth, by these they will perish.'

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Enoch 54:6 and Wisdom of Solomon 2:24

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Deuterocanon

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Summary

1 Enoch and the Wisdom of Solomon both describe an early Jewish tradition that gives the majority of the blame for the introduction of sin and death to cosmic enemies rather than to humanity alone.

Passages

1 Enoch 54:6

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
4 I asked the angel of peace who was with me, 'For whom are these chains being prepared?' 5 He said to me, 'These are being prepared for the armies of Azâzêl, so they may take them and throw them into the abyss of complete condemnation, and they shall cover their jaws with rough stones as the Lord of Spirits commanded.' 6 Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Phanuel will seize them on that great day, and throw them into the burning furnace, that the Lord of Spirits may avenge their wickedness in submitting to Satan and leading astray those who dwell on the earth.' 7 'In those days, punishment will come from the Lord of Spirits, and he will open all the chambers of waters above the heavens, and the fountains beneath the earth. 8 And all the waters will merge: the water above the heavens is masculine, and the water beneath the earth is feminine.
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

Wisdom of Solomon 2:24

Deuterocanon
21 Thus they reasoned, and they were led astray; for their wickedness blinded them, 22 and they didn’t know the mysteries of God, neither did they hope for wages of holiness, nor did they discern that there is a prize for blameless souls. 23 Because God created man for incorruption, and made him an image of his own everlastingness; 24 but death entered into the world by the envy of the devil, and those who belong to him experience it.
50 BCE – 50 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Wisdom of Solomon

References

"... Eve was deceived by the serpent, disobeyed God’s prohibition, and bore the consequences of her own transgression (Gen 3:1-6,13, 16; 1 Enoch 69.4-7; Jubilees 1:38-45; Apocalypse of Moses 15:1; 30:1). The Hebrew Bible never blames her for bringing sin and death into the world. Some rabbis blame her (Sirach 25.24; 2 Baruch 48:42-43; Apocalypse of Moses 10:2; 11.1-3; 14.1-2; 21.5-6; Vita 44.2-4; Genesis Rabbah 17:8; 20:11; 22:2; 28:2) and Adam (2 Baruch 17:3; 23:4; 56:5-6; 4 Ezra 3:20-22, 25, 26; 4:30-31; 7:92, 116-118; Apocalypse of Moses 24:1; 27:2-5; 39:1; Genesis Rabbah 16:6; Exodus Rabbah 30:3; Deuteronomy Rabbah 9:8; Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7:13) for bringing death to the human race, but some blame Satan (1 Enoch 54.6; 69.5; Wisdom of Solomon 2.23; Apoclypse of Moses 21:1-5), the Watchers (1 Enoch 6:1-6; 7:1-6; 15:2-12; 16.1; Jubilees 4:15, 22, 23; 5:1-2, 6-11; CD 2.16-18), and the evil yezer (Sirach 17:30-32; 21:11; 2 Enoch 30:8-16; 2 Baruch 54:15, 19; 56:6; 4 Ezra 3:4-11, 21-27; 4:30; Genesis Rabbah 17:6; b. Shabbat 145b-146a). Nonetheless, they also emphasize human free will and individual responsibility for personal actions (Ezekiel 18; Sirach 15:15, 17; 16:12; 21:27; 27:10; 1 Enoch 16; 98:4; 9:14; Wisdom of Solomon 11:16; 12:15; 16:9; 30:15; 2 Enoch 30:13-16; 2 Baruch 17-19). The theory of original sin or individual hereditary sinfulness derived from Eve (or Adam) cannot be adequately traced or justified in early Judaism ..."
Sariah Yau-wah Chan, “1 Timothy 2:13–15 in the Light of Views Concerning Eve and Childbirth in Early Judaism” (PhD diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 2006), 189–195.

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1 Enoch 54:6 and Wisdom of Solomon 2:24

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